nektotigra@gmail.com

Dievas Focal 500M Automatic Diver

The German niche watchmaker Dievas keeps expanding its model range of professional diving watches. The new Dievas Focal automatic diver, for example, offers an impressive WR rating of 500 meters (50 ATM) and comes powered by a high-grade Swiss made self-winding caliber.

According to the German company, the ubiquitous ETA caliber 2824-2 automatic movement that they used in this watch not only features a modified, DLC-treated and branded oscillating weight, but is also “adjusted to chronometer specifications,” whatever that means.

Of course, the timekeeper’s main selling point is not only its movement (which is dependable, robust and accurate,) but also the company’s patented 6STEEL hardening process.

In two words, they first carburize the steel, heating it up repeatedly in a carbon-rich atmosphere in order to create a hardened layer on the surface of the case and the case-back cover.

When the case’s hardness index is increased to 1300 Hv on the Vickers scale (6 times the normal hardness of the 316L stainless steel, hence the name,) the parts of the body are placed inside a vacuum chamber for plasma coating to make them more resistant to corrosion from salty sea water, as well as sweat, which is, too, quite an aggressive substance when it comes to watches.

Thanks for the process involved, the watch not only gets even more durable, but also acquires its signature titanium-like surface that makes it a perfect tactical timekeeper for an average airsoft player.

Just bear in mind that the case is whole 45 millimeters in diameter and around 14.5 millimeters in height, which can make it difficult to put it inside a tight-cuff sleeve in case you want to hide the Dievas Focal from exposure.

Its matte black dial serves as a nice background for the luminous hour markers and hands that are covered with a thick layer of white Superluminova.

To make the dial more entertaining to look at, the German designers added a little bit of yellow here (on the centrally positioned seconds hand with a luminous dot in its tip) and there (on the “FOCAL” logo at 6 o’clock, which is placed right above the small date aperture.)

Given the timekeeper’s modest price of just $1280, this is certainly a watch to own.